Dan Gould

Thanks Bev! But no thanks for informing me about this album! My wife will probably want it.

On a separate note, could I ask that you add "Bev" to your signature? Its hard when people change their usernames and you forget who you are speaking to, so I'd really appreciate it if you made some reference in your signature to your old handle, and I suspect others might too.

Good and bad news. Since I pre-paid, that means I don't need to think about covering the third one before sometime next year. Definitely wish the other volumes were coming faster though.

And another rookie umpire fucked a team over by tossing a star player for, in this case, literally no reason at all. Beltre was rung up on a questionable call. He's at his position, talking smack in Spanish to Hernandez because he and King Felix had a bet going on whether Beltre would take him deep or Felix would strike him out three times. He told the ump he wasn't talking to him, then the a-hole threw him out. Hernandez and Kevin Cash confirm the account. Some minor league asshole inserts himself where he has no business and takes the Red Sox best available hitter out of a game against King Felix. Wonder-fucking full.

Yes, King Felix has had another excellent season. But that isn't surprising in the least. What is surprising is that Buchholz doesn't get called up last season til the beginning of August, and this year he leads the A.L. in ERA and would be closing in on 20 wins if not for a silly leg injury incurred in an interleague game. He surely deserves some Cy Young votes - and since the voters aren't terribly smart, he'll get more of them than Hernandez just because of the wins, and fewer than Sabathia because of the win total and the fact that NY made the playoffs.

I agree with Paul that its premature to reject the guy as a major league ump. He's obviously on the short list for a promotion when an umpire retires or is fired. Hopefully he'll prove himself better than he showed last night. Now on certain a-holes who have made the game about them and have demonstrated on a very regular basis that they are instigators on top of being incompetent, I sure wish they'd get shit-canned.

The one credit the ump gets in my book is that it looked like the same length swing. If he calls it a swing the first time, he's got to call it again. But he might have been just lucky in that regard since it happens in real time and its gotta be the toughest call an umpire makes aside from judging traps/catches. But I think his sensitivity goes back to a belief that as a rookie they are going to test you and you have to establish your authority and not back down. Its not right, I just think that was his approach on his brief call up. He did make one huge mistake - putting his hands on his hips after Howard did on the first call. You don't react to whatever he does. Thousand yard stare is what you do, unless he escalates. It also brings up the possibility of retaliation and a lack of impartiality on the second call. But as I said, it looked like the same swing.

Of course but how do you prove it? Someone gives Anderson money who got it from someone who got it from a shell company set up by an affiliate of another company that owns another company that's owned by Bonds? Its also possible (though I don't think likely) that Anderson really does feel wronged by the government when he was told that he wouldn't have to testify about certain things or about Bonds or whatever it is he feels aggrieved about. If that's the case, then Bonds is incredibly lucky to be the unintended benfeciary.

Thank you, J.H.! James, I believe that Anderson will not appear on the witness list. He's established to the satisfaction of the judge that he will not answer questions, and he's served his penalty by going to jail on behalf of Bonds (at least someone will have). As a consequence, two main pieces of evidence, the doping calendar and the urinalysis ordered by BALCO, will not be mentioned because of chain-of-custody issues. The prosecution is going to trial with the rest of its evidence, like the statements from the mistress, statements from friends of Bonds, and I expect some expert testimony about markers of steroid use like massive strength gains in very short periods. There's no doubt though that Gregg Anderson took a chainsaw to the government's evidence, no doubt due to his unrequited love for Bonds or the fact that Bonds has promised him a nice-size check after its all over, if he isn't convicted. Did you get that, Timmy? Any reading comprehension issue? Anderson may love Bonds. Anderson. Not Clemens.

As this interesting article points out, baseball has a long history of pitching flame-outs: http://joeposnanski.si.com/2010/08/24/all-too-familiar/?eref=sihp Mark Fidrych and David Clyde. Man, I remember watching those two on TV when I was a wee lad. I wonder what they're doing now. Mark Fidrych is dead. He returned to MA ultimately and started some kind of trucking company, dump trucks or else a hauling service, something like that. He died last fall or this past winter when taking care of a customer by himself, his shirt got caught in the machinery and he asphyxiated. The Globe ran a very moving story about his post-baseball life then. He sounded like a genuinely decent man who took life as it came. Very sad.

You are the dumbest fuck on the planet, Timmy. Anyone else miss the reference and not understand what I was saying? Anyone else think that I intended to imply an unrequited love between Clemens and Bonds?

Can't be surprised that between my sloppy writing and your sub-moronic intelligence that you'd draw that conclusion. For the record, my post above comparing Bonds to Clemens had a missing subject: Their respective trainers. I'm 99.99% certain that every other regular reader of this thread understood what I was trying to say, but then again, Timmy is the one person who can't quite grasp what everyone else understands, about steroids and the respective cases against Bonds and Clemens.

How is it a "domino effect" when you get a clean inning out of Joba in the seventh and have your new eighth inning guy lined up to pitch the eighth only he serves up the tater? You don't leave Robertson on the bench to pitch the ninth inning of a tie game on the road, you hope that they can score in the ninth and Mo comes in for the save. The bullpen was lined up the way he wanted, he just didn't get the results.

When you get right down to it, the guy has barely played the outfield this year - I think 40 starts (?). We've already got a DH. What he brings is an ability to get on base that we lack at the top of the lineup. Damon leading off allows Scutaro to hit second where Drew has hit ever since Pedroia returned to the DL (Reason #666 Why The Red Sox won't Make The Playoffs). But in the end I do not believe Damon agrees to it, for the simple fact that being booed in Boston was painful for him and he doesn't want the fans to suddenly act as if all is forgiven. And on top of that, he doesn't want to go back to Yankee Stadium wearing a Red Sox uni and give Yankee fans a reason to hate him too. Damon stays, and either way it won't make any difference. Except to the extent that he might have helped the Rays offense had they gotten the chance to claim him.

His 518 PAs this season is already 20% of his career PAs, and you can expect him to add nearly 200 more. Between that and the fact that Toronto as a team has taken the approach of swinging for the fences (how else did Alex Gonzales hit 17 homers before he got traded?) its not really that surprising.

Definitely catchy. I think my Dad would be more offended by the use of "like" more than the use of the four-letter word.

The link didn't show any current auctions so I can't judge the scarcity of your test subjects. But I do not think an honest listing of shipping cost makes a huge difference. It may effect things at the margins among more rational bidders - as in, if they are willing to pay $200 for something, their top bid might max out at $175. But even among such rational individuals, the desire for the item usually overwhelms rationality. Where it might hurt you is in the number of US buyers who simply decline to bid and justify it by saying "I'll find a similar copy from a US seller some day." At least with an honest accounting of your costs, you get to keep the records instead of shipping at such a loss.

Blow it out your ass, "Moms" - Mulgrew improves every recording he makes. If that makes him a journeyman, may all of us be that talented in anything we do.

Wow. Just wow. You're so far off your nut that in a different era, you'd be committed to a psycho ward. And I mean that seriously. Its just bat-fucking insane what you've written here.

I'm not the one whose comment you responded to, but let me just say: This was the biggest pile of crap you've written on the topic to date, which is an extraordinary accomplishment. Seriously, if I understand what you wrote, typos and all, its fucktastic insanity. Do you really think that the results of a Clemens trial will effect the Bonds jury in any way? Do you think the jurors will say, "well they don't have any scientific evidence about Bonds, but I heard they have a lot of scientific evidence about Clemens, so I vote to convict! Who's with me?" There aren't enough in the world to properly notate this bit of insanity.

Thanks! OK, PMI is what my wife and I had to get and pay for - about $70 in escrows every month. Total bullshit (the house secures the loan in the first place, and what are the odds even now that the house won't satisfy 20% of the mortgage?) and nothing to do with what we are about. We're homeowner's hazard insurance, and by not screwing people we can get them the right policy for less than they pay now. Which makes me realize something else that will work in my favor. In these tough times, everyone should be looking for ways to cut expenses, and pricing out your insurance and not passively accepting renewal offers is one way to do that.

Uh, I can think of a Jimmy Smith session or two that got the same treatment.

Oh hell yes.

Welcome back Evan. One bit of news you missed was this: (and I'm serious about the offer for Florida board members)

It would be really sad if he became the next Mark Prior without, you know, actually having a really good season or two first.